Tales from the Castletown Apartments
by tfloosh
Summary: A series of random, unrelated Apartment AU one-shots featuring the many reincarnations of Zelda and Link and their many friends.
1. Mixed Signals

Mixed Signals

'EVERY TIME WE'RE IN THE ELEVATOR YOU'RE ON YOUR DAMN PHONE and it makes it really hard to hit on you' AU

* * *

Link sighed as he finally closed the trunk of his car. This was the last box. After this box, he would officially be moved into his new apartment. As much as he loved living with Fado and Shad in their bachelor pad across town, Link needed his own place closer to his new job.

He made it to the elevator and pressed the call button. A door immediately opened to his left, and he strolled into the elevator and pressed the fourth floor button. Just as the doors were about to close, Link heard the clacking of heels against tile.

"Hold the door please," a feminine voice called.

Link fumbled with his box, almost dropping it in his haste to hit the open door button. Then the most beautiful girl he had ever seen strolled into the elevator. She was dressed in a dark grey pencil skirt with the matching jacket held in the crook of her arm. Her magenta blouse had one more button undone than was entirely proper, and her dark brunette hair was slightly mused as if she had just taken it down from a bun. Link guessed she just got off work.

He smiled at her, realizing that he looked utterly ridiculous holding his box up with his knee, still pressing the open door button. She scanned him with her pale blue eyes before giving him a small smile back and bringing her cell phone up to her ear.

"Sorry, had to catch the elevator," she said into it as she pressed the seventh floor button. "Yes, I will have the reports ready to present on Thursday."

Link sighed as he readjusted his box in his hands. There went his chance to talk to her. He glanced sideways at her. She must have been about his age, if just a bit older, but from the half of the conversation he was hearing, it seemed like she had a pretty high up job in some corporation.

Too soon for Link's liking, the elevator stopped and opened up to his floor. He walked out of the elevator with a nod to the pretty girl. He would see her again sometime. They lived in the same building after all, and she couldn't be on her phone all the time.

* * *

As Link found out over the next few days, apparently the pretty brunette _could_ be on her phone all the time. For all of five seconds, he was excited to learn that they left for work at the same time. She was almost always in the elevator already on her phone by the time it stopped on Link's floor every morning. Today was Thursday, three days after he moved in and every morning, and evening, without fail, the mystery woman would be on her phone talking to coworkers, friends, even her mom once. Link was amazed; weren't elevators supposed to have horrible cell service for some reason. But that didn't stop the mystery brunette. Apparently she had some important presentation at work today. From what he had gleaned from the snippets of conversation he heard on elevator rides, it was a huge presentation for the CFO of her company. Link was silently rooting for her but also selfishly hoping she wouldn't be on her phone as often when this big project was over. So this morning, he waved awkwardly before he remembered that he needed to actually get in the elevator. Link shifted on his feet and tapped his fingers impatiently as the elevator slowly moved down to the lobby. Why did she have to be on the phone all the time? What he would give to just learn her name!

Link had an eventful day at work. Being a vet's physician's assistant was always an interesting job, especially when they made house calls. Like today, he helped birth a horse, just before checking sheep for lice. He didn't even know sheep could get lice. Needless to say, Link was tired when he trekked back into his apartment building that evening. He hit the call button for the elevator, thinking about ordering pizza as a reward for a job well done, when the familiar clacking of heels reminded him of a certain brunette. He glanced over his shoulder, and surprise, the mystery woman was walking toward the elevators while talking on her phone.

"Yeah, I know," she smiled. Farore, she had a pretty smile. "It went really well, so hopefully we get the job. He said he wouldn't say anything until tomorrow, but you never know with him. Oh no, that's okay. I'll call you later, bye."

Link whipped his head around. Had she actually hung up her phone? The world must have stopped turning because there she was slipping her phone into her purse as she walked onto the elevator.

Link stood there motionless, probably with his mouth agape, until she smiled and asked, "Are you getting on?"

He nodded fervently and got in the elevator, "Sorry, I was just so shocked you actually ended a call."

"I have been on my phone a lot lately," she giggled. Sweet Din, it was the most adorable giggle he had ever heard in his life. "Sorry about that, this week has been hectic for me. I'm Zelda by the way."

Link shook her hand, "I'm Link-" A lovely flute sound cut him off.

Zelda immediately reached into her purse to pull out her phone. Her eyes widened when she saw the caller ID.

"I am so sorry," she gestured to her phone. "I have to take this; it's my boss and I'm waiting to hear on a promotion. I am so sorry. I wouldn't take it otherwise."

"No it's okay," Link said as the elevator dinged. "My stop anyway. I hope you get the promotion."

She smiled sweetly at him as he left the elevator. Link waved and practically skipped to his apartment. Zelda, such a beautiful name.

* * *

Link was pretty sure he was getting a crush on Zelda. Now that they had somewhat officially introduced themselves, she greeted Link with one of her beautiful smiles every time she saw him, even if she was on the phone. And she was on her phone a lot. The nonstop calls in the elevator had, well, not stopped, and Link felt it was safe to assume she had gotten whatever promotion she had been hoping for.

But even if they had only spoken a handful of words to each other, Link couldn't help but think about Zelda a lot. Like how pretty her smile was and how cute her laugh was and how soft her hair looked. Dang, he totally had a crush on her.

So the problem was: how to flirt with someone who was always on the phone. Link had waited almost a week in a half for the miracle of Zelda not talking on her phone, but so far he had no luck. Her new job was pretty demanding, from what he had heard so far.

Link was having so much trouble trying to figure out how to communicate to Zelda, that he finally brought the issue to Fado and Shad on guy's night.

"Well, let's go about this logically," Shad suggested as Fado rolled his eyes without becoming too distracted from the video game he was playing with Link. "You can use other forms of communication besides talking."

"What, you think he should pass notes back in forth like they're in fifth grade?" Fado laughed as he smashed the buttons of his controller and destroyed some aliens in the game.

"That might not be too bad of an idea," Shad raised an eyebrow. "It could be really enduring if you play it just right."

"But I don't want to distract her from her call too much," Link said as his avatar reloaded his sniper rifle on screen. "Most of the time she's talking to someone about work. I think she has a really demanding job."

"You said her name was Zelda," Shad asked as he pulled out his phone. "Any idea what her company's name is?"

"Are you gonna Google her or something?" Link asked as he moved his avatar to a new hiding spot.

"Of course," Shad rolled his eyes. "I'm surprised you haven't done this yet. She must at least have a Facebook account."

Link stuck his tongue between his teeth. He hadn't thought of that at all.

"I think the company is Nohansen something or maybe Harkinian," Link supplied. "She says those names a lot."

Shad frowned slightly as he typed in this new information and the search screen loaded.

"Holy Mother of Hylia," Shad gasped as he perused the content of the first link Google coughed up.

"What?" Link quickly paused the game, much to Fado's annoyance, and rushed to look at Shad's phone over his shoulder.

"She's the Director of Finance for Harkinian Inc.," Shad exclaimed. Link only looked at him blankly. "She's one of the highest directors in the company." Link still did not understand the significance of Shad's words. "Okay then, let me put it this way. She's about five steps away from being the head of the company."

"Holy Farore," Link understood now. "No wonder she has a seventh floor apartment." He scratched the back of his neck.

Fado busted out laughing, "Man, Link, you are so screwed."

"He is not screwed," Shad chided. "He just needs to be extra creative and not embarrass himself."

"Thanks for the support, guys," Link sighed as he threw his head into his hands.

"Don't give up hope, Link," Shad gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. "I'm sure we'll think of something."

Three hours and one six pack later, the boys hadn't come up with a better plan than passing notes with Zelda while in the elevator.

"What if you used those baseball hang signals?" Fado suggested.

"So I can tell her to sac-bunt a guy over to second?" Link wacked Fado upside the head. "We're getting nowhere with this."

"I still think you're best bet is to write her a simple note," Shad explained for the fifth time. "Just make it short and simple, that way you can make the first move and leave the next step up to her discretion."

"It seems like that's my only option," Link leaned back to stare at the ceiling as if the roof would open up and present a better choice for him. "Nayru, that's so lame."

* * *

The next morning, despite his minor headache, Link was prepared to execute his poor attempt at flirting with Zelda. He had formulated a pretty cock and bull plan with Shad and Fado the night before, and he was still very nervous about actually doing it. He quickly pocketed his Sharpie and packet of Post-it notes as the elevator arrived on his floor. Zelda was already in the elevator, as usual, talking on the phone to some person at her work.

The doors closed behind Link, and he sent Zelda a sideways glance. She was wearing an impeccable black pant suit with a royal blue blouse underneath. She was absolutely stunning, which made the task Link was about to do all the more challenging.

She smiled at him, and courage welled within Link. He could do this.

He took out the Sharpie and Post-it notes stashed in his pockets and began writing:

 _Hey! Remember me?_

 _My name is Link, and I live in 4D._

 _Call me at 8068.9274 if you ever_

 _want a free dinner and a break from work_

Link read through the note twice to make sure it was legible before ripping the top Post-it off. The elevator opened up to the lobby, and Link turned to press the Post-it note he had written on to Zelda's phone. She stared at him in confusion, but Link only winked at her before leaving the elevator without a second glance.

While he seemed calm, cool, and collected as he strutted out of the apartment building, once Link reached his car, he nearly had a breakdown. How could he do something so stupid? Zelda was never going to call him, let alone come over for dinner. Farore, why was he such an idiot? Why did he think he could pull this off?

He spent the whole day at work somewhere between having a panic attack and passing out. Rusl got on to him three times for not paying attention, but Link couldn't help it. He was so nervous to see how Zelda would respond to his Post-it note. He felt ready to throw up as he returned home that evening. Knowing he was most likely going to run into Zelda on his way back up to his apartment was only making it worse. He just knew Zelda hated him now. She would never speak to him again. He wouldn't get to see her smile again. Somehow that thought was what made him most sad.

Link's stomach dropped as he heard the tell-tale clacking of heels on tile. He turned to see Zelda walking toward the elevators (Link gulped) without talking on her phone. Oh Sweet Din, she was going to reject him. Holy Farore, he did not want it to end like this.

The elevator dinged, and Link and Zelda filed into the lift. Link shuffled awkwardly, waiting for the inevitable rejection. He glanced at Zelda to see her dialing a number on her phone. Even better, she was just going to ignore him. Link felt his heart sink. Then his phone went off. Confused he fished it out of his pocket to see an unknown number calling him. He accepted the call and lifted his phone to his ear.

"This is Link," he said.

"Hi Link?" a feminine voice echoed. Link's jaw dropped. He turned to face Zelda to see the most mischievous smile he had ever seen spread across her face. "This is Zelda, from the elevator."

"Oh, yeah Zelda who's always on her phone," Link smiled.

Zelda laughed, "The very same. I was calling to see if I could take you up on your dinner offer."

"I'm sorry; I didn't catch that," Link smirked slightly. "I'm in an elevator right now, and you know they don't have the greatest service. Could you repeat that?"

"I was wondering if I could take you up on your dinner offer," Zelda said loudly and slowly.

"Wow this is such short notice," Link ran his free hand through his hair in fake indecision. "I may only have pizza to offer for dinner."

"That's alright," Zelda smiled as the elevator opened on the fourth floor. She followed Link out onto the landing. "I've been craving some greasy junk food for a while."

"Perfect," Link laughed as he started down the hall to his apartment. "I'll meet you at my place in say, ten seconds."

"I'll be there," she giggled.

They both hung up and turned to face each other when they reached Link's door.

"I'm glad you could make it," Link said as he opened the door.

"I'm glad you invited me."


	2. Dibs

Dibs

'My roommate called dibs on you when you were moving in and I'm devastated because I'm pretty sure you're my soulmate' AU

* * *

Link was so glad their annoying neighbors were finally moving. The loud music at odd hours of the night, the yelling early in the morning, and the strange, often toxic, smelling fumes that they claimed was food, all of it was gone. Groose was very serious about throwing a party once the tenants finally left, and much to Link's shock, the neighbors on the other side of apartment 2D, Pipit and Karane, wholeheartedly agreed and even offered to supply the drinks.

"You know Owlan said he's already found someone to rent the place," Karane said as they all watched the horrid soon to be former tenants of 2D take box after box out of their apartment.

"They're going to have to wash that whole apartment in bleach or something," Link said from the tiny kitchen. "And stop looking out the curtains. You look like a creeper."

"At least they're finally leaving," Pipit said matter-of-factly. "I tried for six months to get Owlan to evict them, but he kept saying something about how what they do in their apartment being their business, and he can't stop them from doing what they want if it's in their apartment."

"They should actually do a whole detox before the bleach," Karane laughed, completely ignoring her boyfriend's comment.

"Scrub the floors with acid," Groose chimed in.

"Burn the walls just to get rid of that horrible smell that so was not food," Link chuckled.

"But really," Karane interrupted. "I wonder who the new tenant will be."

"Whoever they are," Link glanced out the window at the retreating backs of the old tenants. "I hope they're nice."

* * *

It was five days after the celebratory party that moving boxes returned to apartment 2D. Karane excitedly ran over with Pipit in tow to Link and Groose's apartment at seven in the morning to inform them of this fact.

"Owlan says it's a girl," Karane stared pointedly at both of the boys. "A pretty girl."

"I call dibs then," Groose smirked at Link.

"You can't call dibs without seeing her first," Link said, only pretending to be slightly offended and outraged.

"Why not?"

"I think the proper answer is because it's against the Bro Code," Pipit supplied.

"Yeah," Karane agreed. "You should at least wait to see her, Groose. What if she's not your type?"

"Any girl is Groose's type," Link snorted into his coffee. This set Groose off on a rant about how he did indeed have a certain type of girl, and no, not just anyone would do.

As much as Groose annoyed him every now and then, his antics made life more entertaining. Link didn't really care about finding a girlfriend for himself as much as Karane did, so he simply took this as an opportunity to mess with his roommate.

"You know Kina doesn't fit any of the descriptions you just gave, and you dated her for three months," Link pointed out.

Steam seemed to blow out of Groose's ears. As he began another rant about how Kina was different, and therefore these rules did not apply to her, Link finished his breakfast and left for class.

As a sophomore at Castletown Tech, Link was a History major, something his parents thought was a waste of time. But history always fascinated Link, and it was always his best subject. He had thought it would be a stepping stone to adventure and traveling around the world, but so far all History had given him was a solid 3.8 GPA and little to no social life. He begrudgingly went to two classes with three cups of coffee before meeting up with Groose for lunch as usual.

"So I've seen her," Groose said proudly as he started in on his pizza.

"Who?" Link's eyes narrow suspiciously, lowing the drink that was halfway to his mouth.

"The new girl in 2D," he explained. "I saw her, and I officially call dibs."

"Well, congratulation," Link raised his glass sarcastically. "I hope you are happy placing your dibs."

"I am," Groose smirked haughtily. "Thank you."

Link went to his last class of the day, nearly fell asleep during the lecture since he forgot his back-up caffeine supply, and headed back to his apartment, where he ran into what appeared to be a stack of floating boxes.

"I am so sorry," Link instantly set down his book bag to help pick up the fallen boxes.

"Oh no," a sweet, feminine voice said. "It's all my fault. I didn't see where I was going."

"No, I should have been paying attention," Link said as he picked up the books that had fallen out of one of the boxes.

"How about we just agree that it was both our faults?" the girl laughed.

Link laughed with the girl as he lifted the box of books. Then he finally looked into her eyes. Now truth be told, Link was not the kind of guy to take stock in Karane's rants about 'love at first sight' or even 'true love' in general, but when he saw this girl, as cheesy as it sounds, Link started to believe all that sappy romance stuff Karane had spouted over the years. The girl was stunning with waist length, golden blonde hair and amazing, clear blue eyes. Her smile lit up her whole face, giving her an undeniable glow of happiness that for some reason took Link's breath away.

"Hi," Link said, feeling somewhat brain-dead not knowing what to say in the girl's presence.

"Hi," the girl's smile grew wider. "I'm Zelda. I'm moving into 2D."

"Ah," Link nodded hoping it would somehow shake off that brain-dead feeling. "So that makes you my new neighbor. I'm Link by the way." He awkwardly shifted the box of books so that it rested in his left hand before extending his right.

"Nice to meet you, Link," Zelda laughed as she shook his hand. "So you can help me with these boxes, right?"

Link almost rolled his eyes, "Sure, why not?"

He spent the next two hours helping Zelda move the last of her boxes from her car to her new place. They spent the time talking about the books Zelda liked to read, and Link's hobby of woodcarving, and the other neighbors in the apartment building. Link kept getting lost in Zelda's beautiful eyes and entranced in the way she spoke. It was adorable to watch, and Link couldn't help but smile as he watched her flit about her apartment unpacking her boxes.

"Whew," Zelda playfully wiped the back of her hand across her forehead. "I've been moving boxes all day."

"No one to help you?" Link asked, trying to nonchalantly see if she had any roommates or friends.

"Well, there was this one guy with red hair in a horrible pompadour," Zelda mused. "But when he said something about missing classes, I insisted he get to school. Other than that, no, I've had no help."

"That would have been my roommate, Groose," Link explained. "He's almost as pompous as his pompadour, but he's still not as bad as Pipit."

"I can't wait to meet all your friends," Zelda laughed. It sounded all musical-like with birds chirping happily in the distance and wind chimes ringing on porch decks. "Do you want to stay for a drink? It's the least I can do since you helped me and all."

"Nah, I have homework to get to, but maybe you can come over sometime," Link suggested, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Have dinner with all of us or something."

"I would like that," she smiled, her eyes twinkling with merriment. Link could have sworn they sparkled like stars.

"Well, I think stuffed crust pizza is on the menu tonight," he said as he started heading toward the door. "If you wanna come over or something."

"What time?" Zelda asked as she opened the door for him.

"Any time after six should be good," Link smiled.

"I'll be there then," she winked at him. Link thought his heart was going to stop beating. "Goodbye, Link."

"See you later, Zelda," he waved as she closed the door behind him.

Link sighed, gazing longingly at the door to 2D for a minute before shaking his head. He had spent all of two and a half hours with this girl and he was already, undeniably head over heels for her. Irrevocably wrapped around her finger. Completely and utterly love sick like some sappy Romeo in a Hallmark movie.

He started his two second journey back to his place thinking about how he could ask Zelda out on a real date when she came to dinner that night when he remembered. Groose had dibs. While Link never really cared about Groose's sacred Bro Code or any of its by-laws, including the operation and application of dibs, for some insane reason Groose did. What had started as a hilarious compilation of rules on how they would act as roommates they wrote on napkins while drunk almost two years ago had transformed into a legitimate printed and bound copy of clauses, sub-clauses, and overall ridiculous set of rules on how 'bros' should conduct themselves around other 'bros.'

Link had put up with the insanity since it never really concerned him and he never really had an interest in dating, but he had always been there for Groose in a position that has since been dubbed 'the wingman,' and Link actually felt bad about going behind his roommate's back like this even though he was pretty sure Zelda was his soulmate. And that had to mean something since three scant hours ago, Link did not even believe in the concept of soulmates.

So Link did the only thing he could think of. He barged into his apartment and went straight up to Groose who was eating Hot Pockets at the tiny bar in the kitchen and demanded, "How much do you want?"

"Wait, what?" Groose said confused.

"For your dibs on Zelda," Link pulled out his wallet. "How much do you want for them? I got like forty bucks here."

"I'm not selling my dibs," Groose said with a cocky smirk.

"I talked with her. She thinks your hair is ridiculous." Groose gasped at this comment.

"So what do you want?" Link said calmly. "I'll pay for all our meals for a month."

"No."

"I'll do all the chores around the apartment for six months."

"Still no."

"This is adding onto the forty bucks and the meals for a month."

Groose seemed to contemplate this, stroking his beloved pompadour before conceding, "Fine, if you care that much, you can have my dibs."

Link hurriedly handed the money over to Groose.

"But you know I'm going to tell Karane about this, and she is going to have a cow when she finds out how much you wanted to actually be with a girl."

"Shut up, Groose."

Link set about ordering the promised stuffed crust pizza, texted Pipit and Karane that he had invited Zelda over to dinner and that they were welcome as long as they brought chips, and started on his World Civilizations homework.

At half past five, Karane barreled into their apartment practically singing about how sweet, quiet, and nontoxic food creating Zelda was. Pipit set down the four bags of Lays on the table, complementing their new neighbor on her seemingly natural ability to hold a decent intelligent conversation, an ability that was sorely lacking in their present circle of friends, they were all assured.

Zelda showed up at six on the dot with some soda and was immediately roped into girl talk with Karane. They appeared to be growing into fast friends. Much like earlier in the day, Link couldn't take his eyes off her, and unfortunately Pipit took notice.

"Why, Link," he started with the air of making some huge speech or lecture. "I have never seen you so interested in a girl before. Could it be that you have finally found someone that caught your eye?"

"Shove off, Pipit," Link stuck his tongue out childishly. "I just happened to notice that Zelda is beautiful, and her eyes are prettier than a cloudless sky, and she just glows with happiness like there's a halo around her, and oh my Goddess, I'm rambling."

Pipit laughed, "It seems like someone has finally been bitten by the love bug." He clapped an arm around Link's shoulder. "I knew it would get you eventually. Why you were just like me when I was younger. Not glancing at any girls, focusing on your studies, until _wham!_ There she is standing before you in all her beauty."

"Are you drunk, Pipit?" Link unsuccessfully tried to get out from under his friend's arm.

"All of a sudden, it seems as if the sun and stars have been overshadowed. This girl in front of you is the brightest thing on the planet. But what really sucks for you," Pipit paused for dramatic effect. "Is that Groose has dibs."

"He doesn't have dibs anymore," Link chuckled with a slight smirk.

"Oh ho," Pipit's eyes grew wide. "And how did you manage to make him rescind his dibs?"

"I, uh, kinda bought them," Link rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"You bought what?" a new voice asked behind them.

Link turned around to see Zelda standing there with a confused smile on her face and a couple of pizza boxed in her hands.

"Well, it's kind of a long story," Link could feel his face growing red.

Pipit skillfully took the pizza boxes from Zelda and left the kitchen.

"I'm sure it's not that long," Zelda's smiled widened and her eyes twinkled mischievously.

"So you see, when Groose heard that a girl was moving into the apartment next door he called dibs on her, I mean, you," Link started. "But then we argued that you can't call dibs on a girl without seeing her, but today he met you and officially called dibs at lunch. But then I met you after school, and you laugh at my cheesy jokes, and we love all the same books, and I'm pretty sure I have a major crush on you. But that was a problem 'cause Groose had called dibs, and it's a serious thing with Groose. We have this whole Bro Code and everything, but I knew you wouldn't like him, and he wouldn't like you after you said his hair looked ridiculous, so I had to buy Groose's dibs if I wanted to ask you out."

Zelda nodded along with Link's story and paused when he had finished before asking, "So are you going to?"

"Going to what?" Link answered in confusion.

"Going to ask me out?" Zelda laughed. "You went to all this trouble, so it would be a shame if you didn't."

Link was pretty sure he resembled a fish with the way his mouth gaped open, but once he wrapped his head around what Zelda actually said, he smiled.

"Would you like to go out sometime, Zelda?"

"I would love to, Link," Zelda smiled back.


	3. One Day in the Hallway

One Day in the Hallway

'I've had a crush on you for months and we've never talked yet here you are drunk off your ass trying to get me to come over and join your birthday party' AU

* * *

Zelda could say a lot about the occupant of the apartment across from her. Mr. 516 was very tall, blonde, had a habit of wearing a lot of green and this one blue scarf that seemed to be wrapped around his neck even during the hottest summer months yet amazingly brought out his clear blue eyes. He always woke up early on weekdays but slept in on the weekends, and he never read the paper that was delivered to his doorstep every morning. Zelda could probably write a short story on all the little quirks and habits she had noticed over the past seven months of living across from Mr. 516, but there would be many gaping holes in the text. Like his name, for example. Zelda didn't know Mr. 516's actual name. Or what his job was. That is, if he had a job. He did look young enough to still be in college. Oh, and she didn't know his age either.

But despite the missing, possibly essential, information on Mr. 516, Zelda had developed quite the crush on him.

Sure, they only really communicated through smiles and the occasional nod, and granted, they had only really exchanged the occasional "Hi" when they passed each other on the stairs, but Zelda had fallen fast and hard for the cute blonde across the hall. In all her seven months of living in 515, she had never once plucked up the courage to actually talk to him. There were times early in her stay at the apartment complex when she had thought about walking over and introducing herself, but that never ended up happening. As time wore on and her crush seemed to intensify, Zelda found herself thinking up wild and certifiably insane ideas for getting him to talk to her. Like claiming one of the many stray animals he brought home was actually hers. Or stealing his umbrella just so she could return it to him on a rainy day claiming she had found it in the building's lost and found. But all of these ideas were obviously ludicrous, so Zelda spent her days pining after a guy whose name she didn't know and whom she had never actually talked to. That is, until one fateful October Saturday.

Zelda had just been getting back from a marathon study session at the university library. Though she didn't have many midterms, she could already tell that her tests would not be easy. Hence the studying on a Saturday. She walked up the stairs thinking about heating up some leftovers and reviewing the main points of her notes one last time before bed. But when she reached the fifth floor, she noticed a deep, pounding base that seemed to fill the whole floor.

"Someone's having a party," she thought out loud.

She smiled as she walked down the hall to her apartment. It was nice that some people could be carefree enough to have parties on Saturday nights. Zelda caught herself wishing she could go to a party and let loose, but with the threat of her midterms looming over her, she thought better of her wish. The music got louder the closer she got to her apartment.

 _Who is throwing this party anyway?_ she wondered.

Zelda got her answer when she turned the corner to see her apartment and apartment 516. The door to Mr. 516's apartment was wide open with loud music and flashing, multicolored lights spilling out. Zelda could only stand staring into the apartment with her mouth open. Sure Mr. 516 threw parties occasionally, but never had she seen one this crazy. She continued to stand there gaping for a solid minute, completely forgetting to get her keys out and enter her own apartment, when she caught the eye of Mr. 516 himself.

Her eyes widened as he saw her through the open door and started to make his way toward her. Zelda let out an embarrassing squeak and began fumbling for her keys and ended up dropping them twice. Mr. 516 was so distracting in that almost too tight green band tee that showed off his broad shoulders and those black skinny jeans that made his legs look so long and that ever present scarf that made his blue eyes shine like beacons against the flashing lights of the party and that super cute green knit beanie; oh Farore, kill her now.

"Hey, Miss 515," he flashed a dazzling smile and raised the cup in his hand like a salute. He leaned against the door frame that separated his apartment from the hallway. "What were you doing out late on a Saturday?"

"J-just studying," she stammered. Zelda could feel the tips of her ears get red.

"Studying on a Saturday?" he looked appalled. "Cute girls like you shouldn't have to study on weekends! You should be out partying." Then his face lit up as if he just thought up the most wonderful idea on the planet. "I'm throwing a party right now; you should come."

"Well, uh…" Zelda felt like her brain had shut down. He had said she was cute. Her eyes glanced over Mr. 516's shoulder, trying to distract herself by looking into the apartment.

"It'll be so much fun!" he smiled happily. "Will you come? Please?"

Zelda opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by someone shouting.

"Link!" a tall, flaming orange haired girl with strange, circular tattoos all along her arms came up behind Mr. 516. "What are you doing over, oh." Her piercing, yellow eyes fell on Zelda. "Are you the infamous Miss 515?"

"Midna, don't call her that," Mr. 516 (no, Link; his name must be Link) practically whined.

Zelda couldn't help but giggle, "This is my place," she rapped her knuckles against the door behind her, "So, I guess that's me, but I don't know anything about being infamous."

"You should come to my party," Link said again with that huge smile on his face.

"Don't mind him too much," Midna chuckled as she slyly took the cup that Link was still holding out of his hands. "Link, here, is a little drunk."

"I am not," Link whined, reaching for his drink like a child that had their toy taken away.

"But you can come join us if you want," Midna continued with a small smile as she kept Link's cup away from him with her long reach. "It is his birthday after all, and there's still some cake left."

"It's your birthday?" Zelda gasped. How could she ignore this perfect opportunity to hang out with her long time crush? And she wanted to hear more about this 'infamous' business. To hell with worrying about midterms, Zelda was going to go to a party. "Then of course I'll come over."

Link turned to face her, another huge smile growing on his face, "Really?"

"Really," Zelda giggled.

Link enthusiastically threw his arms around her, "Man, I can't wait to introduce you to everyone."

"Wait," Zelda couldn't stop smiling at Link's slightly drunken antics. "Let me put my bag up real quick."

She scrambled to unlock her door and throw her book bag in her apartment at lightening speeds. When she turned around, Link threw his arms around her again as if determined to prevent her from leaving his side.

"What's your name, by the way?" Link smiled at her as he half led, half dragged her into his apartment.

"Zelda."

"Man, that's such a pretty name," he sighed as he brought her into the kitchen. "I just knew you would have a pretty name."

Zelda, who was trying to suppress her giggles and flaming red blush, was thankfully distracted by offerings of chocolate cake. Link was rattling off the names of everyone gathered in the kitchen.

"The girl with the blue hair is Lana, really sweet Hylian major. And her twin sister is Cia. She has short, white hair and is probably hanging around here somewhere. Oh, and the Goron is Darunia. He TA's Physics with me at the university."

"So you're a grad student?" Zelda asked as she sipped on the wine Midna procured for her.

"Yup," Link popped his lips. He then started gushing about all the research he was doing with Quantum Mechanics and using big science words that Zelda didn't even knew existed. She just nodded and smiled like she knew what he was talking about as she was brought to the living room to meet more people.

"The red head is Marin, exchange student from Koholint Island. Music major, she's pretty much fluent in every instrument. And Ruto is the Zora over there. She's kinda snobby, but we love her anyway. And you already met Midna. We've been friends since high school."

They sat and talked for a while after all the introductions. Zelda learned enough about Link to fill in all of the holes in the information she already knew about him. She felt herself become slightly bolder over the course of the evening, probably due to the cup of wine Midna made sure was never empty. The longer Zelda talked with him, the more she found herself staring into his eyes instead of paying attention to what he was saying. She started boldly flirting with him, flipping her hair, subtly touching him while laughing, and Nayru help her if he wasn't totally flirting back.

"Oh my Goddesses, Link!" someone suddenly yelled over the music. "Is that who I think it is?"

Zelda turned to see a slightly shorter, feminine version of Link. They had the same golden shade of hair (though hers was done up in two braids), the same clear blue eyes, and apparently the same penchant for green clothes.

"How could I forget the most important person?" Link left Zelda's side for the first time that night to hug the girl. "Zelda, this is my little sister, Linkle."

"It is her, isn't it?" Linkle's eyes lit up. "The girl that lives across the hall." She turned to Zelda with a smile. "I have been trying to get Link to-"

Link swiftly cut her off by slapping his hand over her mouth, "Linkle can get kinda loud when she's had a few. Spills secrets and information she should _keep to herself_." He eyed his sister darkly.

Linkle promptly bit down on Link's hand and smiled at Zelda as if nothing happened, "I'm so glad you two finally met." Then she skipped off to the kitchen, leaving Link blushing and Zelda slightly confused.

"Have you, uh, been wanting to meet me?" Zelda asked curiously.

"Nah, well, I mean," Link ran his fingers sloppily through his hair. "I've been meaning to say hey since you moved in and all, so, uh, hey." His face erupted in an ear-splitting grin, and he gave her a cute, little wave.

"You know," Zelda felt the tips of her ears go red, "I've been wanting to say hey to you as well." She returned his smile and wave shyly. "Hey."

They stood in the short hallway awkwardly for a second before dissolving into nervous laughter.

"Well this was nice," Zelda gestured to the rest of the party. "Are we going to go back to being generic apartment neighbors that just wave to each other when we pass each other on the stairs?"

Link's face fell, "No, I don't want that."

"Then what should we do?" she asked.

"I don't know," Link frowned. He then slapped his hand to his forehead, thoroughly surprising Zelda. "Man, I'm probably going to forget all this in the morning, too."

"Oh come on," Zelda chided. "You can't be that drunk."

"Well, I'm not a lightweight," Link started, "But I have a horrible tendency to forget everything after, like, my third drink."

"You should really get that checked or something," Zelda laughed. She glanced around the room and spotted a desk shoved in the corner. "Come with me."

"Wha-" Link's eyes grew wide as Zelda dragged him into the living room. "Wait, we can't do anything out here. People will see."

"Your mind also goes in the gutter when you're drunk," she stuck her tongue out at him. "I have an idea."

She pulled Link up to the desk, which he promptly sat on. Zelda riffled through the drawers until she found a Sharpie.

"Give me your hand," she smiled at the still confused Link. He hesitantly raised his hand, and Zelda pulled it closer to her. Then she started writing on the back of his hand:

 _Miss 515 = Zelda_

 _Go & knock on her door_

"There," Zelda finished with a smiley face. "Now you'll remember."

Link took almost two minutes to discern the writing, much to Zelda's amusement. It entertained her to no end seeing his face slowly morph into the widest grin she had seen on his face yet.

"This is perfect," Link threw his arms around Zelda. "I knew I would like you. I think it was something in the eyes. Your eyes are so pretty." Zelda listened to Link ramble on and on until the party was finally closed down a little after one.

"Do I need to walk you back to your place?" Link offered in between saying bye to everyone. "I mean you do live, like, five feet away, but I feel like I need to be gentlemanly and all."

"You don't have to walk me back as long as you come and knock on my door tomorrow," Zelda bopped him on the nose. "And Linkle, you promise to tell him that he actually did meet me tonight?"

Linkle giggled before nodding.

"And Midna, will you please, please answer your phone when Link calls to confirm that he did actually meet me tonight?"

"You got it, girl," Midna winked at her.

"Now you," Zelda turned to Link. "Don't cucco out. Come over later today."

"Later today?" Link asked, tilting his head in a way that was making Zelda reconsider the 'not kissing Link good night because he won't remember' rule she made up earlier. She settled on rolling her eyes and leaning in to hug him.

"It's past midnight, hotshot," she whispered in his ear.

Zelda sent him one last wink before walking over to her own apartment across the hall. She ungracefully tripped over her book bag on her way to the bedroom, but Zelda felt as if nothing could dampen the bright feeling that came with the knowledge that Link was going to knock on her door when the sun rose.

That is until she woke up with a pounding hangover.

Oh, wait no, that was the pounding on the door. Goddesses, why was it so loud?

But even while sporting a killer hangover, Zelda had manners, so she did not scream at the person assaulting her eardrums to shut up and instead proceeded to down some aspirin before answering the door with a withering stare.

Which she immediately regretted as soon as she saw a tall head of messy, blonde hair.

"Link?" Zelda asked. She was tempted to close the door just to see if Link would still be there if she opened it again.

"See?" Linkle's voice came from behind Link. "She knows your name. That's proof you met her last night."

Zelda zeroed in on Linkle, "You mean he doesn't believe you?"

"Me or Midna or Lana, who can't tell a lie to save her life," Linkle rolled her eyes.

"She was laughing too much," Link protested.

"Who do you think wrote on your hand, then?" Zelda asked, slightly confused at Link's disbelief.

He only mumbled something about how "anyone could have done it" before turning away with a blush coloring his cheeks.

"Whatever," Linkle looked so done. She must have been at this for hours. "You're here. Zelda's here. Now tell him the truth, please?"

"Sure," Zelda nodded slightly. She opened the door wider to invite Link in. "You want some coffee, or something? You must have a killer hangover, too."

"I have a bit of a headache still, yeah," Link nodded as he closed the door behind him.

"I have some food, too, if you want it," Zelda called from the kitchen. She still felt tired, but she would put that on the backburner in order to spend time with Link.

"So, they really weren't playing a trick on me?" Link finally asked when Zelda set a cup of coffee and bagel in front of him.

"What?" Zelda laughed. "No, it wasn't a trick or anything." She sat down at the small table across from him with her own cup of coffee. "You saw me in the hallway through the door and invited me to join your party. I said yes, you introduced me to everyone, and we talked a lot. Then you said something about probably not being able to remember the night 'cause you drank too much, so I, being the genius that I am, decided to give you a reminder of our night and a little note so you would know to come over."

Link only nodded, looking down at his graffitied hand and slowly taking a sip of coffee.

"Do you really not remember anything from last night?" Zelda asked. They had gotten to know each other so well. She hated to think that they really had to start all over again.

"Well," Link started before another round of blush covered his face. "I, uh, did you whisper in my ear, or, uh, something at some point?"

Zelda smiled, trying to keep in her laughter, "You were very drunk and confused when I told you to come over later today instead of tomorrow since it was past midnight already."

Link's shoulders instantly relaxed, and he finally looked her in the eye to give her a lazy, crooked smile, "I remember a lot more than I thought I did then."

"Well, color me intrigued," Zelda raised her eyebrows at him.

And just like that, the awkwardness was gone, and the spark they had found last night ignited. They talked and laughed, and Zelda spent ample time teasing Link on the holes in his memory from last night. Apparently, he actually remembered quite a bit of the time they spent together; he just thought it was some sort of alcohol-induced dream. Hours passed without them even noticing, and it wasn't until Zelda's stomach started growling that Link looked at the clock.

"Oh dang, it's so late. We should probably get something to eat," Link stood smiling.

Zelda simple tilted her head as she continued to sit at the table, "Really? You're gonna go with that?"

"What?" he smiled nervously.

"'We should probably get something to eat.' That's all you're going to say?" Zelda shook her head. "I thought you would put more effort into asking me out."

Link's eyes widened, "Oh, I didn't even… Wait, just give me one second."

He quickly spun around to take a deep breath before turning slowly, a sexy, wide smirk spread across his face. He leaned in close, resting a hand on the table next to her.

"So how about dinner, just you and me?" his voice became silky smooth, and he reach with his other hand to play with a lock of her hair. "We can go where ever you want. What do you say?"

"I say you have quite the way with words," Zelda felt a blush rise in her cheeks. She had no idea Link could be this smooth, and it was really turning her on. But she couldn't show that just yet.

Link chuckled, low and sexy, "How about we get dessert after? Try and find something as sweet as you."

"Now you're talking," Zelda smiled up at him. "Just give me fifteen minutes to get ready. I'll come knock on your door when I'm ready."

"As you wish, my lady," he lifted her hand, pressing a soft kiss to the back before leaving with a wink.


End file.
